What is up?! October in Long Beach is reminding me of New York :-) That's a good thing. A little good nostalgia is good for the soul.

Long Beach is such an amazing place. The spirit of the people and the community is uplifting and since I started Leadership Long Beach, this feeling has just intensified. There are so many great opportunities for collaborations and support for the work we are doing at Cabrillo Villages Shelters as well as for our work at Bixby Park near where I live. That's the bomb, actually running into kids that we do programs with in our own neighborhood. Nothing beats it. I can see the wheels turning in their head when they see us coming down the street, like "oh, hey! those are the heads who do the art in the park," nice feeling to be apart of something positive in a child or young person's life.

We had a grant letter due yesterday, was fortunate enough to be able to walk it into the office where I ran into Sandy, who we've been working with from the Long Beach Community Foundation. They're great and even if we don't get the grant (I hope we get the grant :-) I told her that it's a good thing just to have a chance to tell the story, even to ourselves, of what we've done. The most amazing thing about this work is that you're so present and in it that you don't really have a chance to sit back and see what you've accomplished until it's time to write one of these grant proposals or do a press release or one of these kinds of things. Kind of keeps you honest in a way.

The angels really sent me some inspiration though. Back when I did the Liberty Hill piece, which we'll be working on again soon, I was having a hard time articulating exactly the connection between how the arts contributes to sustainability in communities. It was coming off as kind of airy fairy and when that happens for me then it's a signal that I need to go back to the ground, as my homeby Mark Armstrong in Chicago used to say.

Because there is definitely a connection.

When I sat down to write the proposal for Long Beach Community Foundation, it all fell into place. This is what I came up with, check it out:

"Little by little Living Love Foundation is doing its part in creating a space where children and their families can work and think progressively about their world and the possibilities of their lives inside and outside shelter grounds. By yielding tools; helping make connections and providing real capacity building, our goal is to establish a sustainable continuum of creative community engagement that will move beyond our investment of time and resources at the shelters."

This is the first place I've shared that outside of the grant proposal, but really it's what we've been doing, and it feels good to be able to put a hold of some words to describe it. Because I think it's really magic, when we can work with communities, employing art and fun and love to do this, then we've been involved in magic making. Straight up. Need more of that in the world.

I told Sandy that it's like this cauldron of all these great things, a stew that we've put together and hopefully, with the continued help of the community and the attention of folks like Councilman Robert Garcia and his staff (lovely folks) and on the ground support from friends of Living Love like Chris Lyles (my great big shining light), it will all come together in some wonderfully inspired young people who are ready to face the world with their heads held up high, ready to walk in any room, anywhere in the world and feel good about themselves. That's what all this rigamaroo is about...can't ever forget it. Til later-Cheers :-)

We're getting in gear for the third year of programming at Cabrillo Villages, the campus of shelters where Living Love has been doing Home Is Where the Art Is. Last year we expanded the program by adding a garden component. It was a magical thing, not without its challenges. Right now I am working on ways to incorporate more solid community activity inside and outside of the garden. I see that some of the issues facing this community of children and adults is lack of kinetic role models, people, individuals who are moving progressively, positively towards the future. The thing is to get the kids around, their parents too, inspire them. It's hard work...but do-able with the support of Long Beach community at large.

We've been meeting also with the lovely ladies of Robert Garcia's office, the councilman, focusing on finding a space. Hopefully somewhere on Pine. The idea did not appeal to me at first, but the more I spend time on Pine and work there (the Infinite is there, the Yoga studio and Evan Kelly's/LB!Creative has their spot there too) the more I think it would be an awesome fit for LLF. We'll see what happens, keep casting the net.

Started Long Beach Leadership this past August. Honey...lemme say, it's more than a notion. I say that primarily because of the weekend retreat that we took up to Big Bear. A blast in a lot of ways, but grueling. I'm bound by contractual agreement not go into what we did (just kidding :-) well almost ) but really, it was a necessary part of my development, not just as a leader, but as a human being. I think everyone should go up there and do the stuff we did. Back on the ground here, I'm working to create a once a week fitness program that will enhance folk's usual workout, the purpose of this one is to build neural pathways in the brain to continue building and growing. Exciting. I try to run as much as possible and keep myself fit, living here in LBC that's easy since the beach is right there. It's also a walking town. So walks here are never boring. These are some of the things that not only inspire me about being here, but also enable to me envision how it is that we can use creativity to fulfill our mission, which is to inspire children to greatness through creativity and the arts.

Right now I am very excited about incorporating chapters from "W0rking With Joy: Creating Sustainability Through Love and Movement" into this blog. The idea is that we talk to people we have worked with here in Long Beach in this movement, children's orgs; art galleries; social networking outfits; all who have come together to enhance the spirit of this city by bringing people together and making the lives of children better...talk to these people and share here with you how we are tapping into sustainability through our efforts. Like I said yo...it's work, but it's worth it. I interviewed one head about sustainability and she was like..."have I ever seen it? I hear about it all the time, but I don't know if we're really doing it." She and I agreed, like I said, that it's alot of work. And it is...but once again, worth it.

Is sustainability through the arts this elusive principle...this place that we arrive at? or is it always already happening? That is a question for the ages, but I really want to delve into it, because not-for-profits need to know :-) Know what I mean? Living Love needs to know. We must build in sustainability from the ground up and fit it into anything we endeavor to create programmatically. The days of charitable giving are coming to a close, when programs can float on their own, that's the best. We'll flesh it out, take the best and run with it...I think that's all for now. See you soon :-) Kelly

Hello All :-)


It's June. We're seguing out of our daily workshops and moving towards Summer Programs. We'll have four arts programs; health and fitness programs going on starting in July. The city of Long Beach, its citizens and leadership have come together to support the vision of Living Love in investing in children through the arts. This is a winning ticket. Period. It's good to be somewhere, to live somewhere and work somewhere where that's understood. It's also very humbling. That's a funny thing to say and people look at me sideways when I say it, but like mom used to say, "things aren't always good, so be thankful when they are."

Things are good right now. There is audible, tangible hope in the air. The conversations amongst peers and colleagues are centered around sustainability and the wealth of investing in meaningful relationships that pay in dividends in real ways. It feels like the world is changing and people will have access, have tapped into their access to creating and making the world a place where we all want to live. Now that it's here, that this time is here, I wouldn't know how to imagine any other way of being...it's electric and these are the times that some really wonderful things happen, seeds are planted, take root and change the game.

Paradigm shifting is never easy, well not for me at least :-) but the impact of the shift, of moving from one way of being to another, especially when it involves creating change on the ground in ways that will create long lasting positive impact makes shifting provocative and necessary. It's like waking up every day wondering like "wow, what great thing is gonna happen today? what great flower is going to emerge from the seeds we planted in winter or in the spring?" That's pure, organic magic.

This summer Living Love is bringing together some of the titans of the on the ground arts scene in Long Beach, and working on an open air arts program in one of the most beautiful parks in the city. We'll be at Bixby Park, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and we'll be doing raw food classes and yoga and recylced arts workshops and have guests like Pedal Movement and LB!Creative and working with professional artists who will take their time to teach hand crocheting and t-shirt printing....hosting workshops for the kids and elders. Maribel will be coming from Ventura to lend her special expertise to the children of this community...we are all very excited.

On July 10th we're having a launch and a fundraiser to invite everyone to sample what we'll be doing and who will be there. Bixby Park...probably start around 11:00 AM...

The program will run two full days out of the week. But check it out...the idea of kids who have had little to no exposure to the arts, on their way to the beach from North LBC or the Westside, the idea of them running into a full-on conservatory quality arts program, FREE...in session twice a week, the idea that it could catch their attention, change their lives, make an impression on them that could last a lifetime...give them some hope and help them make some new connections...there is no way to express how lovely it is to be involved with that experience. That these things have come together here...like this...gorgeous :-)

Glad to be a part of it.

Glad to be a part of something good.

See you at Bixby :-)

Ciao Meow

Kelly

The Foundation will be at The Aquarium of the Pacific tomorrow for it's celebration of Black History Month. We'll be doing hearts with the several thousand visitors who are gonna roll through from everywhere. Days at the Aquarium and fun, exciting, lots of art and lots of people! It's exciting because we really get a chance to share arts with all kinds of different people from all different walks of life. It's also great because we get to make things with recycled pieces of everything. Great chance to have fun. I remember the last time we were there, for Halloween, I was working with this little boy and while we were picking what supplies he wanted to use, he had the choice of used toilet paper rolls, fuzzy dice, googli eyes, paint, crayon, these crazy leather strips, he was like "I'm getting confused, there are so many things I don't know what to choose," at that moment, when I told him he could choose as many as he wanted and do whatever he wanted to do with them...when he looked up at me with these big wide excited eyes I realized that art is one of the only places where it's appropriate and exciting to do exactly what you want...anything you want. That's why I like the days at the Aquarium, to see kids come through and stop and look and sit and stay and work and create something of their very own...it's alot because there are SOOOO many people and the days are long, but it's worth it.

Long Beach is coming along in general. I am certain that Living Love Foundation will continue to grow here. For the first time, I really feel like we've found our niche. The programs are growing like crazy and there's so much excitement about the mission and what we're doing. It makes all the hard times feel worth it. This April will make four years since we launched Living Love and it's come along way. I'm humbled to see the progress and the way communities have embraced what we're doing. Feels weird to be doing work that is the answer and have it regarded in that way.

This past February 13th, Mom's birthday, we had children and volunteers and consultants having fun in the garden, planting, painting, it was great. The community involvement here in this city is great! I don't think I've lived anywhere where just about everybody is active in one way or another. And in March we're gonna take some of our volunteers and students up north to Ventura to work on the art program at Pleasant Valley. That will be great, I love it when all the different programs get a chance to meet and compare work and styles. Not an easy thing here without solid public transportation. In New York you could get some train passes and get everybody around like that...not so here. But the hard work pays and in the spring when the gardens blossom ( you can already see the little fennel poking its head up in the herb garden) that will be the best :-) all that sweat and toil coming up daisies...the road to beautiful...I mean :-)
Ciao